It is known in the art to mount a drill press on a pivoting mount to allow the drill press head to be pivoted. The pivoting allows the drill bit to drill at an angle into the workpiece. Drill presses manufactured by the American Machine Tool Company and Delta International Machinery Corporation pivot around the vertical axis of the support column and around the horizontal axis of the drill press head as shown in FIG. 1. In order to drill at an angle into a workpiece the user must move the workpiece to one side and up in order to line up with the drill bit.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,831 (1976) to Bukovitz et al. discloses a drill press that pivots from one side of the base of the support column. Therefore, the workpiece often does not have to be moved. However. The drill head does not pivot axially around the pivot axis, so that the drill bit remains a constant distance from the pivot axis. Bukovitz uses pneumatic rods to support the column. His device is complicated and does not provide for interchanging different drill press heads.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,440 (1961) to Miller discloses a drill press which rotates on a vertical axis around the support post. Again the user must move the workpiece in order to drill at an angle into the workpiece. If the user wants to drill a vertical hole and a hole at a specific angle to the vertical hole, then the user must first drill the vertical hole, then move the drill head, then move the workpiece over and up to use the drill bit. The user must figure out how far over to move the work piece by lowering the drill bit to see its path and then place the workpiece in the desired location.
The present invention solves this complex alignment problem by placing the pivoting mechanism within the column so that the drill head pivots around the workpiece. This means that the workpiece remains in one position while the drill press head is moved. The drill bit always remains the same distance from the pivot. If two holes at different angles are to be drilled in the workpiece, then this is much easier to accomplish than with previous systems. Once the first hole is drilled the workpiece only needs to be moved the desired distance to one side. The angle of the drill press head is then changed, and then the drilling is done.
The present invention uses a simple axle system to pivot the column and a simple support and adjustment system. The adjustment system consists of a rod with right handed threads, a rod with left handed threads, a turnbuckle threaded to receive the right handed rod in one end and the left handed rod in the other and a handle to adjust the angle. A positive slide lock is used on the opposite side of the column to add extra support and safety. A unique feature of the present invention is an interchangeable connecting column that allows any manufacture's drill press head to be mounted on the pivoting drill press support system.